It is a sedentary and nomadic species that ranges from northern and central Africa and further east towards western and southern Asia.

The subspecies that inhabits the Nile Valley (P. e. floweri) have darker and greyer colouration on their heads, mantle and breasts and have less yellowish colouration on the upper wing-coverts and scapulars than the nominate subspecies, Pterocles exustus exustus (Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania and Sudan).

P. e. ellioti (southeastern Sudan, to Somalia), P. e. erlangeri (southwestern Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman) and P. e. hindustan (Iran, Pakistan and India) are all paler and greyer than the nominate subspecies.

P. e. olivascens (South Sudan to Northern Tanzania) has distinct greyer olive colouration on their upperparts and wings, with females having more heavily barred and streaked underparts than the nominate subspecies.

The subspecies, Pterocles exustus floweri that inhabits the Nile Valley have darker and greyer colouration on their heads, mantle and breasts and have less yellowish colouration on the upper wing-coverts and scapulars than the nominate subspecies, P. e. exustus (Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania and Sudan).

[3] P. e. ellioti (southeastern Sudan, to Somalia), P. e. erlangeri (southwestern Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman) and Pterocles exustus Hindustan (Iran, Pakistan and India) are all paler and greyer than the nominate subspecies.

P. e. olivascens (South Sudan to Northern Tanzania) has distinct greyer olive colouration on their upperparts and wings, with females having more heavily barred and streaked underparts than the nominate subspecies.

The bird's upper breast is a vinous-buff and separated by a narrow band of black boarded with white.

[5]: 6  The female's upper plumage is a dull-buff streaked with dark brown marks at the back of the neck, increasing to blotches, with other parts becoming broad bars.

The lower breast is a dull pale ochre-buff, with the abdomen to the vent closely barred with dark brown.

The males tend to have an orange tone around their necks and faces, with sharp demarcated black lines across the pale upper breast.

The male's face and throat are a yellowish colour, faintly contrasted with a greyish crown, neck and breast.

During the summer, where water is scarce, these birds often can be found conglomerating at a single waterhole to drink in their thousands.

[5]: 6 In Egypt, a subspecies (floweri) of chestnut-bellied sandgrouse was first discovered in the mid-19th century, and are found endemically in the Nile Valley.

The subspecies was rediscovered by a team of Austrian and German ornithologists while working in the Egyptian Nile valley in March 2012.

[7] Their diet primarily consists of small seeds, often consumed in large quantities, mostly from leguminous plants.

[5]: 18–19  During the breeding season, males will be in new fresh brightly coloured plumage and will possess distinctive elongated central tail feathers.

[8]: 80  A study published in 2008 found that the major contributing factor to the mortality rates of birds in captivity comes from social stress and the flightiness of this species.

Breeding experiments were attempted on the Utah State Game Farm at Price and resulted in only one egg laid by the end of 1962.